The Buffet Of Spiritual Paths
If you were at an all-you-can-eat buffet of spiritual paths which ones would you choose?
A few years ago I’d have gone for the exciting options, the ones that promised freedom and self-exploration, flavours that mixed well together.
For example, the psychic medium that could contact the dead and tell me about my future.
The astrologer who could tell me about myself and my unique position in the stars.
The tantra teacher who could show me how to have 24 hour cosmic orgasms.
There’s no way I would have chosen an option that looked pretty bland (from the outside), demanded exclusivity, and said that the other paths were wrong or dangerous (see Deuteronomy 18.10 for what God thinks about mediums.)
But the thing is, this path, offers more peace, and joy than all the rest put together.
The thing is when you are whirling around, falling deeper and deeper into the cosmic labyrinth, there will be a lot of ecstatic, blissful, experiences. Moments that feel like healing, or ascending, or discovering some secret that’s going to change your life.
Yet like trying to reach the end of the rainbow, you keep having to go back for more and more, back to the buffet table, constantly seeking a different flavour, because that promised destination never quite materialises.
The Bible says that Satan is the god of this world, and Satan hates Jesus. So it’s no wonder that we live in a world that presents Jesus as the least appealing option.
‘’Oh no, I’m not religious.’’
‘’I’m more spiritual.’’
I used to think these things when I thought the best way to approach spiritual matters was where my heart led me.
But the Bible says that ‘the heart is deceitful above all things.’ The Bible says that hearts get hardened and then it’s harder to see the truth.
When I started to approach spirituality as a truth-seeking enterprise things started looking different. I began applying logic and asking questions. For example why do the psychics keep talking about the 144,000 starseeds, whereas the Bible talks about the 144,000 from the 12 tribes of Israel? Why do the psychics say we just need to ascend and raise our vibration to arrive in ‘new earth’, whereas the Bible says we must follow Jesus? Is reincarnation true, or is the Bible right that we have just one life?
And then all of my questions were answered in a single moment with a prayer where I had an encounter with God.
I knew he was radically different to everything else on offer at the buffet.
So I chose the most ‘boring’ book in the world, and discovered that the cover was not representative of the contents. We cannot see it with a hard heart, but God says, ‘I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.’ Ezekiel: 36:26-27.
It is with this heart that we can finally choose, what will really nourish our souls.
Resources To Find Our More
A Case For Christ - Film about a legal journalist who sets out to disprove the Biblical story of Christ after his wife becomes a believer.
Metanoya - Resources For The Christ Curious
Christian Answers For The New Age
Documentaries from Caryl Matrisciana
Kate- I really love this idea of spiritual paths as an analogy, particularly with buffets. Such a great visual that we can all digest, pun intended. Thank you!
Fantastic post, Kate.